Apple is offering a special holiday cashback deal for new Apple Card owners signing up between December 26 and January 31. Purchases eligible for the 5% cashback offer include outright hardware purchases of iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The typical rate for Apple hardware and software transactions with Apple Card is 3%, so 5% is a decent introductory offer. However, the bonus is only available to new Apple Card accounts and not offered to existing customers....

Ahead of its March 25th event, Apple continues to ramp up its original content efforts. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Apple has given an eight-episode order to a series based on the book Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Apple’s interest in the book was first noted last August, when it was reported that the company had gained rights to develop a series based on Pachinko. Now, however, Apple has given a straight-to-series order for the TV adaption of eight episodes....

Just after Apple Pay officially launched in Mexico this week, a hint has surfaced that Apple’s secure payment platform could be close to debuting in Israel as well. Israel has been seeing a notable expansion of updated payment systems across the country in recent months to handle EMV and NFC transactions like Apple Pay. Reported by The Verifier (via Google Translate), online-bank/credit card company Pepper released an update for its iOS app with a “Version surprise!...

Apple is today sending out emails for its latest Apple Pay promotion, this time advocating fitness with a partnership with the GOAT app and up to 30% off on the app’s “Get Fit” sneaker collection. GOAT (greatest of all time) is a popular app that allows users to buy and sell new and used sneakers. The promotion applies to a curated Get Fit collection of sneakers and runs through January 17th....

Apple is set to make a monumental change to the App Store on the iPhone. In response to looming regulations in the European Union, Apple has software engineers and services employees working on a project to “allow alternative app stores” on the iPhone and iPad. This change could launch as soon as iOS 17 next year. According to a new report from Bloomberg, these changes will see Apple allow outside App Stores on the iPhone for the first time....

Following the release of self-driving car disengagement statistics earlier this month, Apple today has released a brief whitepaper about its self-driving car efforts. The company specifically focuses on its “approach to automated driving system safety.” As you might expect from a company as secretive as Apple, the paper is inherently vague. The company glosses over how it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to make its “products and services smarter, more intuitive, and more personalized....

As we await Apple’s official announcement of WWDC 2021, Apple’s open-source WebKit code has recently been updated by Apple to include references to the looming iOS 15 and macOS 12 software updates. WebKit code usually refers to future versions as “TBA” to hide their actual version numbers… Unfortunately, this WebKit mention does not confirm anything about what to expect from this year’s updates to iOS and macOS. It coud, however, suggest Apple’s likely naming plans for the iOS and macOS updates coming at WWDC this summer....

In addition to iOS 11.4 beta, Apple has released the first tvOS 11.4 beta for Apple TV 4 and Apple TV 4K. We’re not likely to see any new features introduced in the new version of tvOS 11.4, however, although we’ll update with any notable discoveries as always. The latest developer beta of tvOS follows the official release of tvOS 11.3 to all customers last week. The new version added support for frame rate matching to older Apple TVs and Apple Music highlighted new music video playlists....

Apple has released iOS 11.1.1 for all iPhone and iPad customers. The latest software update includes bug fixes and improvements including a fix for the notorious ‘i’ autocorrect bug that resulted in an A and [?] character appearing. Users can find the update available through the Settings app under General and Software Updates. The fix has already been available for developer and public beta testers running iOS 11.2 beta. Apple previously asked customers to create a text replacement workaround for the ‘i’ autocorrect bug as a temporary fix....

Apple today released iTunes version 12.5.1 for OS X and Windows users, bringing the Apple Music redesign that it first unveiled for its new macOS Sierra release arriving later this month. As pictured above, Apple Music has been given a total redesign in this update, in line with the new experience that it first unveiled back at WWDC with the introduction of macOS Sierra. The update introduces a much cleaner look overall for Apple Music with larger black font and simplified navigation....

Apple has released the second macOS 10.13.3 beta through the Mac App Store. The update is likely a bug fix and security update given this point in the development cycle of macOS High Sierra. We’ll update if any new features are discovered in the new beta. macOS 10.13.2 came out of beta earlier this month and is available for all customers. Changes in that version were minor as well: The macOS 10....

When Apple originally announced the iPad mini, it said the LTE model would ship two weeks after the Nov. 2 launch date set for the Wi-Fi only models. It didn’t take long for Apple to extend estimated shipping dates to “2 weeks” following selling out of initial supplies. One lucky iPad mini user received their preorder already, but it appears Apple is facing major shortages leading up to the holidays. Especially for the cellular models…...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that a pending version of Apple’s ad-tracking policy will hurt small businesses when it is introduced next year. Further, he says Apple could damage the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Zuckerberg’s attack relates to a privacy change Apple originally made in iOS 14 and subsequently agreed to delay to give the ad industry time to react … Background We explained previously how ad-tracking works, and why advertisers, websites, and developers like it....

Chicago Now got a sneak peak and a chat with Apple Retail chief, Ron Johnson, about the new Lincoln Park, Chicago Apple Store. Apple is calling their latest retail store “significant.” They’re placing it in the same category as their recent London, Shanghai, and Paris stores. The design of the store is gorgeous and very innovative for the neighborhood that it is located in. According to Chicago Now this particular area of Lincoln Park used to be very old looking as well as “dingy, dark, smelly....

During Monday’s “Unleashed” special event, Apple announced that Apple Music would be gaining hundreds of brand-new mood and activity playlists. As first spotted by the folks at MacStories, those new playlists are now rolling out, and there are over 250 from which to choose. The new mood and activity playlists were created by the Apple Music editorial team and are available to all Apple Music subscribers. Apple explained on Monday:...

As detailed in a new piece from Billboard, Apple Music has officially crossed the milestone of having 20 million paying users. The achievement comes 17 months after Apple Music first launched, but growth numbers still lag behind Spotify… Three months ago at the unveiling of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple announced that Apple Music had crossed 17 million paying users, so the company has added 3 million new paying subscribers in that three-month gap....

On Monday, Spotify announced it was going to raise its subscription prices starting next month. With Apple Music prices staying the same, for now at least, the Apple One bundle could become even more tempting for users to subscribe. In fact, for many Apple fans, now could be the time to make the jump. As for now in the US, only the Spotify Family plan will see a price increase, but in Europe, the UK, and several other countries, like Brazil, users will see an increase of up to 30%....

As is always the case before new iPhone launches, the Apple Online Store has gone offline this evening ahead of iPhone XR pre-orders. The colorful new iPhone is slated to go up for pre-order tonight at 12:01AM PT/3:01AM ET, which is when we should expect the store to return. The iPhone XR release comes a month after the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4. Analysts expect the iPhone XR to be popular among customers, with a recent supply chain report also suggesting that Apple ramped up iPhone XR production as it forecasted higher-than-expected sales....

Following yesterday’s developer betas, Apple has seeded iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4 public betas. iOS 11.4 includes both AirPlay 2 and Messages on iCloud for testing, and tvOS 11.4 can be used for AirPlay 2 testing. iOS 11.4 beta also suggests we’ll see HomePod gain stereo support when the software update is ready, but the feature requires an unreleased version of the HomePod software to test. AirPlay 2 testing requires Apple TV 4 or Apple TV 4K with tvOS 11....

Apple has just released OS X 10.10.3 to the general public. The upgrade to the operating system, which has been in beta since March, includes the all-new Photos app that was introduced alongside Yosemite last year. It also includes over 300 new emoji, including multiple races and designs for some icons, a revamped “look up” panel, networking and wireless improvements, and more. The Photos application included in this update marks the end for Apple’s previous photo management apps, iPhoto and Aperture....